EVERETT, Wash. - (AP) - A U.S. flag that turned up in Washington state in 2014 is believed to be the flag that was raised by firefighters above the site of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.

The finding comes after a two-year investigation by the Everett Police Department, with assistance from forensic experts. The flag will be donated to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

Exactly how the flag wound up in Everett, a city about 30 miles north of Seattle, is a mystery. The flag disappeared from ground zero during the site cleanup. The police investigation began in November 2014, when a man dropped off a flag at an Everett fire station.

Former Everett Police Detective Jim Massingale told ( http://bit.ly/2cbtGrC ) The Daily Herald "the flag is likely the same flag."